It’s only natural that the swimming pool or hot tub cover will, at some point, get some mold growth. We have tips for how to remove mold from a pool cover because you don’t want to leave it on the cover because it will drip into the water. The swimming pool contractors from Advanced Pools explain that using a pool cover is a great habit to get into, but caution you need to pay attention to the underside of the cover.

Mold is one of those things — like a bathtub ring — it creeps up on you and then before you know it, you’re looking at a black, or green slime or tiny dots of mold that is adhering to the underside of the cover just waiting to bloom! It’s not the end of the world, but you do want to remove the cover and thoroughly clean it.

One of the first things you will need to do if the mold is on a hot tub cover is to remove the foam cores. Clean those separately from the cover itself.

The cleaning solution is the same for hot tub and pool covers:

  1. Fill a bucket with one gallon of warm water
  2. Add teaspoon of mild dish detergent (Dawn is a good one)
  3. Add one cup of bleach
  4. Mix
  5. Wear rubber gloves to protect your hands from the mixture as bleach is very drying

How to remove mold from a pool cover

Use a sponge or an extremely soft brush to remove the mold. You may want to wear eye protection in case the water/bleach mixture splashes you. Make sure you also clean the cover outdoors or in a very well ventilated area.

Clean the cover with the soft brush with slow, circular motions to remove most of the mold. In many cases, a sponge simply won’t get off the worse of the mold build up. Once it’s loose, rinse the cover then use a sponge or cloth to thoroughly wipe down the cover.

Rinse the cover thoroughly with water. We recommend rinsing it, letting it dry then rinsing again. You don’t want any residue of the cleaning mixture to drip into your hot tub or pool water.

Let the cover dry completely. It’s best to lay it flat in a warm sunny place. We can certainly offer insight and advice or even clean the hot tub and pool cover as part of the swimming pool maintenance contract. Ask us about it and for more tips on keeping the covers mold-free.